The Right Frontier for Civil Rights Reform

Abstract

Since December 2004, when conservatives regained majority control over the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, the Commission has dramatically changed its course on matters of civil rights policy. While the Commission's recent work has addressed numerous issues, it has returned repeatedly to the issue of affirmative action. This Article demonstrates that the Commission's new work forms a consistent, coherent body of inquiry regarding the moral legitimacy, legal validity, and policy appropriateness of the use of racial preferences in a wide range of applications, with particular emphasis upon American law school admissions.

Keywords: Civil Rights, United States Commission on Civil Rights, Affirmative Action, Reverse Discrimination, Policy, Federal, Preferences, Race, Conservatism

JEL Classification: I2, I128, J7, J78, J7, J70, J7, J71